Fountain pen



Jan.'1,7, 1939. R. NAMIKI 2,144,296

FOUNTAIN PEN Filed Feb. 25, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY.' M

' ATToRNEx/s.

R. NAMIKI FOUNTAIN PEN Jan. 1711, 1939.,

2 sne'ets-snee: 2 I

Filed Feb. 25, 1939 ATTORNEY Plan-fed 1.11.17, 1939 (PATENT 'ori-ica Y 2,144,296 FoUN'rAm PEN Ryosuke Namiki, Takinogawa-k, Tokyo- Shi, Japan application February z5, 193s, serial No. 192,637

'1 Claims.

relating to fountain-pens of an automatic suction type, and has for its objectto'provide a fountain-pen of simple construction, and one, -gwhich is not likely to be damaged or ,injured during a comparatively long period of use, thereby obviating the troublesome repairs. of the fountain-pen.

n rin-ther object 'of the invention is to eineml w a fountain-pen, in which any mechanical device,

suchV as rubber sack or vacuum producing mechanism is not provided in the casing of the fountain-pen for the purpose of sucking ink, thereby increasing the quantity of ink to be sucked.

lu A further object oi the invention is to obtain a fountain-pen, in which no lweair material, such assoit rubber for sack, or leather, cork or rubber for forming soft valve, is used; in making of the casing such material as hard rubber or Celluloid 20 or other similar semi-permanent material can be used, thereby increasing the durability of the fountain-pen, and notwithstanding the use of such material, enabling ink to be sucked automatically. e

2a A further object of the invention is to obtain a practical and low-priced fountain-pen by making use of a physical action for "sucking ink automatically, the action being solely governed by theconstruction itself of a. combined feeding im and iilling bar, thereby entirely removing al1 lmanipulating mechanisms, such as complex pump mechanism, twist mechanism, or the like. A-further object of the invention is to offer a fountain-pen, in which ink is sucked automati- 35 cally by simply inserting the top of the fountainpen in an opening formed in the stopper of anv ink-bottle, and then by turning the whole upside down. By this means, it ismade unnecessary that as in ordinary fountain-pens, the top of. 4o the fountain-pen is wholly immersed into ink,

and therefore, no trouble is needed to wipe oi the ink adhering to the said top, after having sucked ink. Further, ink can be filled in a quantity of 100%, leaving noair space in thecasing.

45 In addition, it ispossible that the last-drop of ink remaining in the `bottley is sucked for'use. Still further, it is unnecessary that as inordinary fountain-pens, ink remaining in the casing must once be emptied for effecting the second- 50 time sucking. According to the invention ink can be replenished simply at any time and place.

,A= further object of theinventionis to offer a fountain-pen, in which, as stated above, a physical action solely governed by the construction of 55 a combined feeding and filling bar is utilized for (Cl. 12o-50) This invention relates to improvements in-or sucking ink automatically, thereby making it unnecessary to use such special pressure or vacuum producing device as used in the ordinary fountain-pen. Further, by this means the defect can be avoided that ink is liable to leak or drop. A further object of the invention is to chera fountain-pen, in which ink overooded within the cap of the fountain-pen due to the fact that the fountain-pen is inversely positioned and suloie'cted to shock during carrying in a hand bag or 10 the lilre,- or due to the fact that heat is conducted to expand air in. the casing, can be returned back entirely into the casing by simply uprighting the fountain-pen for a short time (about ten seconds) prior to removing the cap. Then the cap l@ can be unscrewed to use the fountain-pen very safely. v

A further object ci the invention` is to oder a fountain-pen, in which, even if air remai in the casing expands under heat conductionlso las to make ink overflow and threatento drop,

this overooded ink can safely be returned by suction again into the casing only by standing erect the fountain-pen for a short time (about several seconds). ln such a case, there has'been'no 25 possible way in the ordinary fountain-pen, except that the overflooded ink'is cast out by shaking, or wiped oil by means of blotting paper or lthe like.

A further object of the invention is to obtain 3o a fountain-pen, in which any ink which overflows inthe nib-carrier during carrying can be returned entirely into the casing, and fresh inl;

can vflow when using the fountain-pen; as a resuit, ink flows in constant density, thereby assuring the brilliancy of letters. In the ordinary fountain-pen, the ink once conveyed to the inl;- ductor can never be returned into the casing,

. and therefore, the ink adhered to the ink-ductor is, during carrying, oxidized and turned black, thereby preventing fresh ink to ow until after the oxidized ink has been used; as a result, ink is always written down with different density and shades. Y

A further yobject of the invention is to obtain a fountain-pen, -in which ink is extraordinarily smoothly sucked throughout the whole sucking operation, without the need of shaking the fountain-pen, or giving thereto some other motion. In the known fountain-pens devised as' in a. similar way to the invention, ink is sucked veryv badly, resulting in that sucking must interrupted in the beginning or the midway oi the sucking operation; for thisreason, it is needed 55 the fountain-pen is shaken, or some other motion is given thereto, so as to help suction.

Still other objects of the invention are explained referring'to the drawings and made clear in the following explanation.

In order to attain the various objects as mentioned above, the invention can be best embodied in the following way: The casing is in the form of a cylindrical barrel having one end closed and provided with external and internal threads at its opened end. It is unnecessary to provide the casing with any other means. With the internal threads is screwed a nib-carrier, and with the external threads a cap. The nib-carrier has a bore, and the bore is formed with a recess of slightly greater internal diameter than that of the bore, extending downwardly a suitable distance from the edge surface of the threaded portion of the nib-carrier. Inserted in the bore there are a pen and the novel combined feeding and filling bar. The bar consists of a solid portion and an extension thereof. The solid portion is formed at its back (the surfaceintended for holding the pen) with a central air-groove extending axially. At the opposite sides of the air-groove there are arranged two ink-ducts one at each side, extending down to the lowermost end of the extension of the ink-ductor. The diameterof the'extension ismade as small as possible, compared with the solid portion. The bar is further formed with a cut off nat surface, at its back, extending along about one-half length of the solid portion' and along the whole length of the extension. Intermediate between the two ink-ducts and parallel to them. there is an auxiliary ink-duct, extending from the lowermost end of the extension and projecting -slightly beyond the lower extremity of the air-groove of the solid portion. The fountain-pen thus constructed is inserted in an opening formed in the stopper of an ink bottle, and the whole is turned upside down, then the ink of the bottle flows along the ink-ducts of theink-ductor into the casing, while thev air existing in the casing escapes in the form of bubbles.

through the heart hole of the pen into the bottle, until the ink gradually sucked illls up the casing. It is for this reason that ink can be sucked in the amount of 100%, without any use of mechanical suction device or any special pressure or vacuum producing device.

Referring to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the fountain- Den constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same, illustrating the manner in which ink is sucked;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the combined feeding and filling bar, illustrating the depth,

Vboth'of the air-groove and the ink-ducts formed therein, and also the contour of the cut off .fiatv portion of the bar;

Fig. 4 is a plan of the feeding and filling bar,

illustrating the positions for arranging the airgroove, ink-ducts, auxiliary ink-duct and crescent cavities; .I Y

Fis. 5 is a section along-the line a--b -of the exposed portion of the solid portion of the feeding and nlllng bar, illustrating the relative posiextension of the feeding and filling bar, illustrating ink-ducts and auxiliary ink-duct.

Throughout. the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the corresponding parts.

Now, referring to Fig. 1, the reference l indicates a cap, which mey'be of any known construction. 'Ihe nib-carrier 2 is formed with a dish-like hole at its mouth, and has a central bore 4, intended for holding therein a pen 5 and a combined feeding and lling bar. The nibcarrier has a threaded portion 'l to be screwedwith the corresponding threaded portion of the casing 8. The bore 4 is formed with a recess 9, the internal diameter of which is larger than that of the bore 4, and which extends internally from the lower edge of the bore. vThe internally extending distance should be, as shown, projecting slightly beyond the starting edge of the cut off flat portion Ill.'l The reason why the recess 9 is especially disposed is explained later. The casing 8 is in the form of a cylindrical barrel having a closed bot-tom,` with external threads Il and internal threads 1, by which the nib-carrier 2 is screwed with the ink casing. The inkductor is characterized in that it is a comparatively long member consisting of a solid portion 6 and an extension I2 thereof. The lowermost end of the extension I2 extends near the closed bottom of the casing. The extension, however, can. be made shorter if desired, b`ut it should be `noted that the extension shall be of somewhat considerable length as explained later. 'I'he length of the solid portion 6 is, as shown. such that it projects slightly beyond the lower edge of the nib-carrier. T'he extension I2 should be of a diameter as small as possible, so as to increase the quantity of ink to be sucked in the casing. 'I'he cut olf fiat portion formed in the back of the bar and extending along a part of the solid portion and the whole length of the extension, is for the purpose that, when sucking ink', theA exchange of air for ink is made easy on the one hand, and on the other hand ink to be sucked is increased correspondingly. The said exchange is explained later. The cross sectional shape of the extension l2 may be eitherrectangular, square or circular, but generally circular is preferred in view of easy mechanical working thereof.

Now, the feeding and filling bar constructed in accordance with the invention is explained with reference to Figs. 3-7. The solid portion 6 is provided at its back with an air-groove I3 (see Figs. 3, 4 and 5), whichvterminates at the starting edge III of the cut on! fiat portion. n'I'he airtowards the ink bottle. The air-groove also serves as a passage for the outside air, which tends to enter the casing during the use of the fountainpen. In view of these functions of the air-groove, its'section should be made comparatively greater than that of other ink-ducts, but should not be so excessively great that ink flows always excessively, so that blotting paper must be used successively. The sectional area of the airgroove should be below 0.5 square mm., so as to avoid the above mentioned defect. A`s stated above, the air-groove serves as a passage for air only. For this purpose the air-groove must be disposed separately from other ink-ducts. In known feed bars, the air-groove informed at its bottom with two or three ink-ducts so that they are positioned in the same place. Such known air-groove should be abolished according to the separated from the, air-groove.

invention. The theoretical reason' therefor stated later on.

At the opposite sides of the air-groove I3, there are disposed ink-ducts Il and I5, extending exially from near the top of the solid portion down to the lowermost end of the extension I2, and The ink-ducts serve as passages for ink, which is sucked-from `the bottle into the casing, under the action of capillarity and gravity. The ink-ducts also serve as passages for ink, which ilows, during the use -of the fountain-pen, similarly under the action of capiuaty and gravity. It is notedtnat the inkducts .thus serve as passages for ink only, but not "for any air. Therefore, they should be in-section a rectangle of small width and great depth. Especially, the width should be considerably smaller than the depth' or width of the air-` groove. However, as explained later', theV fountain-pen according to the invention depends in its ink suction considerably upon the gravity of Y ink, and therefore, it is noted that the ink-ducts have'a width considerably greater than the known ink-ducts. This is for the reason that time required for sucking ink 'may be shortened as soon as possible. According'to the experiments made by the inventor, it has been found that the width of the ink-ducts is preferably from 0.3 to 0.4 mm. The depth of the ink-ducts should be as great as possible.

Intermediate the ink-ducts Il and I5, there "is an auxiliary ink-duct I6 (see Figs. 3 and 4),

extending lfrom the lowermost end of the extension I2 up to and slightly projecting beyond the edge II) of thel air-groove., This auxiliary ink-duct I6 acts, when the air-groove I is for tain-pen, if the air-groove is not lled with ink,

and consequently in an open state, the outside air freely enters' the casing, thereby givin'g riseto la danger` that the ink in the drops along the ,inkducts Il and I5'.' AIn the fountainpen accordingto the invention, ink can be freely sucked in the casing, while the fountain-pen is used "in such a way that ink can be prevented paper surface, there occurs a slight vacuum in `positively from dropping. This phenomena will-- be at one glance considered strange. However, it may .tce easily understood if one pays atten'- tion to the fact that the air-groove i3 is always in on open state in the sucking operation, whileV 'it is always in a state Il llediwith ink during the use of the fountain-pen. And the reason why ink' can flow continually during the use of the iluun-VV tain-pen is as follows: As ink is absorbed by the the casing, and therefore, the outside air tends to invade through the heart hole /of 'pen into tthe casing, so as to compensate for the vacuum Wil formed therein- This invasion is elected against the resistance of init the air-groove i3. Thus, duringthe use of the fountain-pen there occurs iii-st vacuum in the-casing, and then e outside air invasion, the latter being caused so as togcompensate for the vacuum, and these actions are repeated in continual succession, preventing ink-How from being interrupted.

Neartneupperendbfcnesolidporuonlof lthecomhlnedieeding andllingbar,theremay be disposed, two crescent cavities I1 and Il at the opposite sd of the ink-ducts Il and I5.

These cavities serve as sub-reservoirs for the ink, which should happen to overflow due to the fact that theairinthecasingexpandsbytheheat of Abody when using the fountain-pen. Thus,

these cavities serve to-prevent the overllooded ink Refen'lngtolilg. 2,inkcanbesuckedin accordance with the invention as follows: As shown, the top of the fountain-pen is inserted in the opening formed in the stopper of the ink-bottle, and the whole is turned upside down. Then, the ink-ducts Il and I5 are subjected Lto the force of descending ink both by capillarity and grav- This force permitsvink to fiow along the ink-ducts down to the lowermost end of the ex- By vthis flow of ink, the level of the ink of the bottle is lowered, thereby decreasing the pressure in the` bottle to-a value smaller than the atmospheric pressure, while the pressure in the casing is increased up to a value greater than the atmospheric pressure. However, .as thesel two pressures are in communication with each other through the intermediary of the air-groove I3, the air in the casing can escape through the airgroove I3 into the bottle, ascending through the latter in the form of bubbles.

In the shove way, if ink is'contained in the ink-ducts along their whole length, the force of descending ink lmder the action of capillarity is interrupted permanently, and thereafter, the

force of descending ink by the actionvof gravity 'only acts continuously to convey down lnk into the casing, until the latter is. lled withl ink completely, while air in the casing can escape gradually into the bottle as stated above.'

The reasonwhy the force of descending ink by the action oi capillari@ is interrupted in the ahoveway after the ink-ducts have Yheen lled with ink is as follows: It is imown that a capillarity phenomena is one which occurs between the relative surfaces of two phases, one li-quid and the other solid. Therefore, if the said relative surfaces disappear, there will be no reason that capillarity can occur. ln the case in ques-l tion, if the ink-ducts are filled with ink, the relative surfaces between them are vanished, and consequently, it is obvious that the force of descending ink by capillarity is stopped.

In sucking operation, if the air-groove I3 is not lled with ink` andtherefore, is an open state, the air'in the casing can escape easily through the air-groove into the bottle regularly. This permitsalwaysthecasingtohefilledwithink' completely. However, if the air-groove is once filled with ink, the air in the casing undergoes diiiiculty in escapingpwith the result that air bubbles can occur very irregularly, or sometimes can occur in no way, thereby making impossible that the casing is vllied with ink completely. 'mais phenomena is called YIespiring phenomena. For avoiding this phenomena, it is indispensable that the passage for ink and that for air are ged completely seted from each other. lihat is, the two passages should not he posioned in the same housing. This is the reason why in the intion the air-groove l? is cenopposite sides of the air-groove.

The air iii the g can not escape into the or-ahy disposed, and separated thereirom,`there are disposed the ink-ducts -l and. i5, at the bottle, before the difference between the pressures in the bottle and in the casing reaches a definite value. It is nothing but the force of descending ink, which can establish such a difference. It is therefore important that the force of descending ink is made as large as possible. The force of descending ink can, in turn, be increased dependingon the force of descending ink by gravity. This is the reason why in the invention the ink-ducts formed in the bar is widened considerably greater than the known feed bars. In brief, in known fountain-pens, the idea has prevailed that capillarity should be regarded as of importance, whereas in the invention the idea is based on the fact that much importance should be attached to gravity.

In the foregoing has been described that there is disposed a recess 9 extending from the lower edge of the nib-carrier, and at the back of the feeding and filling bar, a cut o fiat surface extending along the whole length of the extension and one part of the solid portion of the bar. In such arrangement, one also sees that there is a large-space I9 within the recess' 9 at the back of the bar, and also a comparatively nar-v row space 2li at the abdominal portion of the latter. This is seen clearly from Fig. '2. Due to the difference between the two spaces,I ink tends, by its surface tension, to attach always f near the narrow space 2li. In additional, ink can not form a film near the wide space I9. This permits ink to gather more and more near the narrow space 2l, and thus, ink can finally ow along the inner wall of the casing; `It should be however noted that during this interval, ink is also flowing along the two ink-ducts and an auxiliary lnk-duct. Asvstated above, the wide space I8 is alwayskept in an open state, and therefore, the air in the casing can easily escape through the air-groove Il, and through the heart hole of pen into the bottle. Thus, the previously mentioned respiring phonemena can be entirely eliminated.

As stated in the foregoing, the fountain-pen of the invention lays stressA upon gravity, 'by making use of which ink is caused to descend and an automatic suction of ink is made possible, physically. It is obvious that the construction of the fountain-pen is very simple and compact.

The extension I2 of the bar is not always neces# saryto be so long as shown in the drawings, and if desired, may bemf such length that ink is enabled to drop by gravity along the ink-ducts. In thislatter case, the time required for sucking u ink is somewhat retarded, but the capacity of ink to be sucked into the casing can further be` increased.

I claim:

1. In a fountain pen, a combined feeding and filling bar comprising a solid portion and an integral longitudinal extension, the inner part of the solid portion and the entire extension being cut away to leave a fiat surface, the solid portion being provided with an air groove which terminates at the cut-away portion and the solid portion and the extension being provided with at least one ink duct positioned to lthe side of the air groove and separated therefrom.

2. A fountain pen as claimed in claim 1, in which the extension is provided with an auxiliary ink duct which terminates at the inner end of the air groove.

3. A fount iin pen including a barrel having a closed inner end, a nib carrier detachably mounted in the other end of the barrel provided with a central bore, the inner end of which is enlarged at the point where itcommunicates with the barrel, a combined feeding and filling bar including a solid portion and an extension, the solid portion being snugly fitted within the bore of the nib carrier and extending beyond the inner edge of the latter and into the barrel while the extension extends to a point near the closed bottom of the barrel, the inner part of the solid portion and the entire extension being cut away to leave a flat surface, the cut-off portion of the solid portion being short of the bore but positioned within the enlarged end of the bore, the solid portion of the bar being also provided with an air groove which terminates at the cut-away portion and further provided on opposite sides of the air grooveA with ink ducts which extend throughout the length of the exltension and which are separate from the ink groove.

4. A fountain pen as claimed in claim,3. in which the innermost part of the solid portion and the extension are further provided with an `auxiliary ink duct, one end\of which is in communication with the inner vend of theair groove.

5. A fountain pen as claimed in claim 3, in which the section of the air groove is made comparatively larger than that of the ink ducts but is kept below 0.5 square mm. so as to prevent ink from dropping when subjected to a slight shock.

V(i. A fountain pen as claimed in claim 3, in which each ink duct is in the shape of a rectangle of small width and substantially great depth.

'1. A fountain pen as claimed in claim 3, in

which the back of the feed bar at the solid portion is provided with crescent shapedDexnsions positioned exteriorly of the ink duct.

RYOSUKE NAMIKI. 

